HS Girls Baskeball: Great Oak Pulls Away with a 42-32 Victory Over Chaparral – The Wolfpack Stays In the Hunt For the league Championship

Chaparral proved to be a tough Southwestern League opponent Tuesday night as they battled the Wolfpack for three periods and kept Great Oak on their toes until the final period. The 42-32 victory kept the Wolfpack one win behind the undefeated Broncos.

The Wolfpack and Pumas played evenly through two periods. The score at halftime was 17-15 as both teams looked for an edge. The Wolfpack came out in the second half with an aggressive full court press defense that started being effective immediately. The Pumas adjusted but the Wolfpack kept putting up the pressure.

The Wolpack’s Roya Rustamzada exploded for ten of her 14 points in the final period to lead Great Oak to victory. The senior guard was fed passes from teammates as she stormed down court for several undefended fast breaks that finally broke the tightly played contest apart.

“We just ran out of steam and failed to execute down the stretch” said Puma head coach Kelsie Woodard. “We gave away too many wide open lay-ups. We played well but we really need to finish better”.

The Wolfpack was led by Rustamzada’s 14 points. Mikala Williams scored 13 points against the Pumas and Abby Welch added 12 for Great Oak.

“We attacked with the intensity that we needed” said Wolfpack coach Shannon Maurice. “We played physical post defense in the final period and attacked”.

The Pumas were led by Kali Jones who was held to 10 points. Sara Hagman scored eight points for Chaparral.

The Wolfpack will play at Temecula Valley Thursday. The Golden Bears are winless with a 0-3 record in league play. The Pumas are now 2-1 in league and will play the league leading Broncos at Vista Murrieta. Games start at 5:15pm and will be part of the Southwestern League’s Coaches verses Cancer promotion.